Georgetown Law: New HIV Policy Lab uses law and policy data in the HIV response. “The HIV Policy Lab is a data visualization and comparison tool that tracks national policy across 33 different indicators in 194 countries around the world, giving a measure of the policy environment. The goal is to improve transparency, the ability to understand and use the information easily and the ability to compare countries, supporting governments to learn from their neighbours, civil society to increase accountability and researchers to study the impact of laws and policies on the HIV pandemic.”
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UNAIDS: New website with COVID-19 related resources for young key populations and young people living with HIV in Asia and the Pacific
UNAIDS: New website with COVID-19 related resources for young key populations and young poeple living with HIV in Asia and the Pacific. “The aim of the website is to gather and bring together available information and guidance on COVID-19 focusing on young key populations (YKPs) and young people living with HIV (PLHIV) from Asia and the Pacific. The platform will serve as an online resource to document and communicate on the challenges YKPs face due to COVID-19 as well as their approaches in identifying gaps and solutions in their response to COVID-19.”
Plus: Study: Lower COVID Risk for HIV-Positive People on Antiretrovirals
Plus: Study: Lower COVID Risk for HIV-Positive People on Antiretrovirals. “A study of tens of thousands of HIV-positive Spaniards found they faced less risk of dying or getting seriously ill from COVID-19 than people without HIV. Researchers specifically cited the use of antiretroviral therapy — specifically medications that include a nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) backbone of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF)/emtricitabine (FTC) — as a factor in the lower risks, according to the study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and reported in the American Journal of Managed Care.”
WHO: access to HIV medicines severely impacted by COVID-19 as AIDS response stalls (World Health Organization)
World Health Organization: WHO: access to HIV medicines severely impacted by COVID-19 as AIDS response stalls. “Seventy-three countries have warned that they are at risk of stock-outs of antiretroviral (ARV) medicines as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new WHO survey conducted ahead of the International AIDS Society’s biannual conference. Twenty-four countries reported having either a critically low stock of ARVs or disruptions in the supply of these life-saving medicines.”
Introducing Project SOAR’s HIV Implementation Science Research Collection: Timely Evidence to Guide the HIV Response (PLOS Collections)
PLOS Collections: Introducing Project SOAR’s HIV Implementation Science Research Collection: Timely Evidence to Guide the HIV Response. “In the newly launched PLOS Special Collection ‘Project SOAR: robust evidence to improve the global HIV response’, the published and forthcoming papers present SOAR studies conducted in sub-Saharan Africa that evaluated innovative service delivery approaches, modeled their cost and impact, and elucidated social barriers to care such as gender and stigma. The Collection also focuses on the effects of recent changes in policy and discourse on mitigating the HIV epidemic in a variety of settings, including the adoption of ‘Treat All’ guidelines, reallocation of financial resources based on geographic and population HIV prevalence, and increased attention to men, adolescent girls, and young women.”
AIDS .gov Blog: New COVID-19 CDC Resources on PrEP and Liver Disease
AIDS .gov Blog: New COVID-19 CDC Resources on PrEP and Liver Disease. “We continue to update COVID-19 and People with HIV, our HIV.gov page of resources from agencies across the federal government. We recently added two resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that are relevant for people with and at risk for HIV during the COVID-19 public health emergency.”
FDA: FDA launches mobile-friendly database with information on life-saving HIV drugs as part of ongoing mission to empower the public through increased access to information and data
FDA: FDA launches mobile-friendly database with information on life-saving HIV drugs as part of ongoing mission to empower the public through increased access to information and data. “Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the launch of an interactive database that will offer a wealth of critical information about antiretrovirals (ARVs) eligible for purchase under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program.”
Washington Post: Facebook ads push misinformation about HIV prevention drugs, LGBT activists say, ‘harming public health’
Washington Post: Facebook ads push misinformation about HIV prevention drugs, LGBT activists say, ‘harming public health’ . “Facebook users have been bombarded with misleading ads about medication meant to prevent the transmission of HIV, according to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocates, who say the tech giant’s refusal to remove the content has created a public-health crisis.”
Washington Post: The Library of Congress will house the archives of the famous AIDS quilt
Washington Post: The Library of Congress will house the archives of the famous AIDS quilt. “Mike Smith remembers how the disease ravaged San Francisco’s Castro district, the heart of the gay community. How you’d pass emaciated men on the street, covered in cancer scars, and how, by the summer of 1987, a thousand men in a 10-block radius had died…. On Wednesday, Smith, [Cleve] Jones, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) gathered to announce that the quilt project’s vast paper archive was coming to the Library of Congress and the quilt itself was headed back to San Francisco, where it began.”
Out: Facebook Won’t Ban Fake News, But They Will Ban PrEP Ads
Out: Facebook Won’t Ban Fake News, But They Will Ban PrEP Ads. “Facebook rejected ads to raise awareness of PrEP, telling the New York medical provider Apicha Community Health Center that they weren’t ‘authorized to run ads about social issues, elections or politics.’ Apicha provides health services to communities in particular need, including Asians and Pacific Islanders (API), LGBTQ+ people, and people affected by HIV/AIDS.”
UNAIDS: Mapping HIV laws and policies
UNAIDS: Mapping HIV laws and policies. “A new website that enables people to identify national laws and policies related to the AIDS response has been launched by UNAIDS. Covering areas as diverse as a country’s ability to diagnose HIV among young babies, the existence of laws that discriminate against transgender people and whether people are prosecuted for carrying condoms, the Laws and Policies Analytics website aims to give a full overview of a country’s laws and policies related to the HIV response. It also allows to view policy data jointly with other data on the HIV epidemic and response.”
The Body: Archive Remembers Heroes and History of Black HIV/AIDS Activism
The Body: Archive Remembers Heroes and History of Black HIV/AIDS Activism. “Several projects are attempting to archive the history of AIDS activism — there’s the ACT UP Oral History Project, Visual AIDS’ Archive Project, and a number of LGBT archives, including the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture’s LGBT archive. And yet much of what has emerged as public memorials of the AIDS epidemic and its heroes has focused on a handful of mostly white activists and organizations. The long history and impact of black AIDS activists, particularly during the early years of the epidemic, are less known. Dan Royles, a writer and assistant professor of history at Florida International University, wants to make sure we know about those stories.”
The Verge: How Facebook helps people with HIV shed the stigma and shame
The Verge: How Facebook helps people with HIV shed the stigma and shame. “Just before Brian Sheldon turned 50, he came out as a gay man. He lived in the suburbs of Brisbane, on Australia’s east coast, with his wife of 25 years. He had two adult kids. When he and his wife separated, he had no gay friends. And the first time he had a sexual experience with another man, Brian Sheldon contracted HIV.”
Zawya: U.S. citizen leaks data on thousands in Singapore with HIV, govt says
Zawya: U.S. citizen leaks data on thousands in Singapore with HIV, govt says. “An HIV-positive American has leaked online the names of 14,200 Singaporeans and foreigners also diagnosed in the city-state with the human immunodeficiency virus, the Health Ministry said on Monday.” This article acknowledges that there are many unanswered questions.
IOL (South Africa): Mzwakhe Mbuli to sue Google for ‘profiling him HIV positive’
IOL (South Africa): Mzwakhe Mbuli to sue Google for ‘profiling him HIV positive’ . “Mzwakhe Mbuli is taking legal action against Google. This follows revelations that Google has profiled him as HIV positive. In a television interview with SABC over the weekend, the People’s Poet expressed his anger and disappointment at Google and confirmed that he is pursuing legal action against the internet giant.” Mr. Mbuli is a poet and activist.